The Story of My Student Beni

Beni is one of my current students. His newsmaker interviews are nine years overdue. You see, back in 2004, his wife gave birth to sextuplets in San Diego, but instead of becoming an instant sensation of the Gosselin fame, they opted to remain under the radar for fear of being deported. That fear eventually took the upper hand, and the Iretas decided to move the kids and the mom back to Mexico while Beni - the loving father, a hard worker, and a mature student - stayed behind to earn money to support his suddenly huge family. He is so brave to go public with his story recently, with appearances on Univision and this article in LA Times. This is a story about the issues some of our students face in everyday life, a story of painful separation, of human dignity, of fighting poverty, of wanting what is best for one's family.